Eddie Sefko writes that the Mavericks now have gone three summers since winning the NBA championship without making good on a plan to rebuild the franchise in such a way to make Dirk Nowitzki the second-best player.

While Friday was tough for Dallas, it had to be enough tougher for the Lakers. After Dallas got the word, that left only Houston and LA in the running for Howard. Reports surfaced that Howard had picked Houston, but not long after came tweets and rumors that the big man was waffling. Finally, Howard tweeted that he was headed to Houston.